🇺🇸 United States vs United Kingdom 🇬🇧 — Take-Home Pay
A side-by-side look at how much of your salary you actually keep in each country.
🇺🇸 United States
= $60,000 per year
Estimated monthly take-home
$4,050
$48,597 per year · 19.0% goes to tax & contributions
| Item | Per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Gross salary | $60,000 | $5,000 |
| Federal income tax | −$5,020 | −$418 |
| Social Security6.2% up to $184,500 | −$3,720 | −$310 |
| Medicare1.45% | −$870 | −$73 |
| California income tax | −$1,793 | −$149 |
| Take-home pay | $48,597 | $4,050 |
Estimate only — not tax advice. Figures are estimates based on publicly available tax rules and may not reflect your full circumstances. See our methodology & sources. Always confirm with an official tax authority or a licensed adviser before making decisions.
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
= £35,000 per year
Estimated monthly take-home
£2,393
£28,720 per year · 17.9% goes to tax & contributions
| Item | Per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Gross salary | £35,000 | £2,917 |
| Income Tax | −£4,486 | −£374 |
| National InsuranceClass 1 employee | −£1,794 | −£150 |
| Take-home pay | £28,720 | £2,393 |
Estimate only — not tax advice. Figures are estimates based on publicly available tax rules and may not reflect your full circumstances. See our methodology & sources. Always confirm with an official tax authority or a licensed adviser before making decisions.
Effective tax at a glance
| Income level | United States | United Kingdom |
|---|---|---|
| Low | $36,000 → 15% tax | £21,000 → 11% tax |
| Median | $60,000 → 19% tax | £35,000 → 18% tax |
| High | $120,000 → 28% tax | £70,000 → 27% tax |
Why US and UK differ
The answer changes with income. At the median, United Kingdom leaves you more — 81.0% of gross the United States against 82.1% the UK — but by three times the median the ranking has flipped to United States, at 67.6% versus 67.1%.
The two systems get there differently. United States takes 11.4% of a median salary as income tax and 7.6% as social contributions; United Kingdom splits its own median 12.8% to 5.1%. Comparing headline income-tax rates between US and UK would therefore mislead you by roughly 2.5 points in whichever direction the contributions fall.
Neither United States nor United Kingdom routes a mandatory savings component through payroll, so everything deducted in the table below is genuinely gone rather than being saved on your behalf — the comparison needs no adjustment before you read it.
Matched income levels, US against UK
Converting USD into GBP would compare two different standards of living. Each row instead takes the same multiple of the United States median and the United Kingdom median, then asks what share of each survives locally.
| Income level | United States | United Kingdom | Keeps more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry level (0.6× median) | $36,000 → 15.2% | £21,000 → 11.2% | UK |
| Median (1× median) | $60,000 → 19.0% | £35,000 → 17.9% | UK |
| Well paid (1.5× median) | $90,000 → 24.6% | £52,500 → 21.9% | UK |
| Senior (2× median) | $120,000 → 28.2% | £70,000 → 26.9% | UK |
| High earner (3× median) | $180,000 → 32.4% | £105,000 → 32.9% | US |
What rent does to the comparison
Tax is the smaller of the two variables. On each country’s own median salary, these are the cities we hold rent data for and what a one-bedroom city-centre flat leaves behind — a spread that routinely dwarfs the 1.1-point tax gap between US and UK.
| City | 1-bed city-centre rent | Share of take-home | Left after rent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austin (US) | $1,700 | 42% | $2,350 |
| Chicago (US) | $2,100 | 52% | $1,950 |
| Seattle (US) | $2,300 | 57% | $1,750 |
| San Francisco (US) | $3,300 | 81% | $750 |
| New York City (US) | $3,800 | 94% | $250 |
| Birmingham (UK) | £1,050 | 44% | £1,343 |
| Manchester (UK) | £1,150 | 48% | £1,243 |
| Edinburgh (UK) | £1,300 | 54% | £1,093 |
| London (UK) | £2,200 | 92% | £193 |
Frequently Asked Questions
+Is take-home pay higher in United States or United Kingdom?
At the median, United Kingdom: you keep 81.0% of gross the United States against 82.1% the UK. At three times the median the answer is United States, at 67.6% versus 67.1% — so the honest answer depends on what you earn.
+Why do United States and United Kingdom tax differently?
United States relies on federal + state income tax and FICA and United Kingdom on Income Tax and National Insurance. In practice US takes 11.4% of a median salary as income tax and 7.6% as contributions, while UK splits its own median 12.8% to 5.1%.
+Should I move from United States to United Kingdom for the money?
Tax alone is a weak reason: the gap at the median is 1.1 percentage points of gross. Rent typically moves further than that between two cities inside United States alone, so compare the US and UK housing figures below, and the salary you would actually be offered, before treating the tax gap as decisive.
+Which is better for a high earner, US or UK?
At three times the median — $180,000 the United States, £105,000 the UK — United States leaves more, keeping 67.6% against 67.1%. High earners are also where contribution ceilings bite, and United States and United Kingdom set theirs at different points.
Estimate only — not tax advice. Figures are estimates based on publicly available tax rules and may not reflect your full circumstances. See our methodology & sources (last reviewed June 2026). Always confirm with an official tax authority or a licensed adviser before making decisions.